Sunday, June 25, 2006

One of the Seven Signs

LPIN State Chair Mark Rutherford advised me long ago that I will know that I am gaining traction on something when someone gets personal about me or brings up the national LP's platform position on drugs.

This one is personal.

It seems that emails have been circulated to a variety of media outlets alleging that I was fired from my job with the Hamilton County Surveyor's Office for ghost employment. Among the outlets to receive the email was Abdul Hakim-Shabazz at WXNT 1430-am. Abdul has asked me to discuss the allegations on his radio show Monday morning at 7am, which I will do to clear my name.

For the record, I left on the most amiable terms with Kent Ward, Hamilton County Surveyor. I left his employment so that I could start my own business. As a courtesy to Mr. Ward, I stretched the customary 2-week notice into an 8-week period, so that he could take his time and find a suitable replacement. I even sat in on the interviews of prospective replacements. I was never disciplined for any infraction while a county employee, much less fired.

Seems the effort could be purely malicious. It certainly has nothing factual going for it as regards me or my employment history.

The email was signed "JQFR". This is an acronym for "John Q. Fishers Resident," an anonymous blogger who has posted comments on this blog many times, in favor of the Town of Fishers' attempt to forcibly annex the Geist neighborhoods north of 96th Street. I am a staunch defender of the Geist residents, and their right to self-determination.

I expect that some people will take issue with my positions. Some will even write that I'm an idiot. That's politics, and I can take that in stride. What I cannot and will not tolerate is defamation of character. Emails and website IPs are neither invisible nor untraceable. I will investigate these emails to learn who sent them. I will be eager to sue the originator for defamation of character.

Update: I appeared on WXNT's Abdul In The Morning show to respond to the allegations. I said many of the things you just read, above. A retratction statement was posted on this entry by JQFR shortly thereafter.

That was gratifying to a point, but once out of the bag, sometimes an allegation starts to take on a life of its own. My former boss Kent Ward called me this afternoon to let me know that Norman Cox of RTV6 called him to inquire about the allegations- after the retraction was posted. Mr. Ward indicated that the allegations were false, and Mr. Cox called it a non-story. It's great that this is a non-story on RTV6, but what kind of impression of me does Mr. Cox have now? Will I be treated with suspicion in the future should he interview me?

Moreover, Mr. Ward has better things to deal with than having his Office called into question. Did his reputation take a hit? I had to apologize to Mr. Ward for his having to deal with this thing. Imagine! I had to apologize!

I'm delighted that I'm having the kind of impact that makes some uncomfortable, but I'd like to see some of the other seven signs, thank you very much.

This is hilarious, Mike. Is it defamation of character to throw a "loser" label on an unidentified blogger? Two retractions in one space? That must be a record. I would imagine J.Q.F.R. must be in position to gain something monetarily from the Geist annexation to take this approach. Maybe we should look at Town of Fishers service contractors and shine a nice bright light on relationships the board members have with those organizations.

I'm just amazed that if you have the nerve to sling mud like this, one wouldn't have the nerve to identify himself by name. What's the definition of coward?

Mike, this is all Aces to you, my man. You get a big wash of media attention (we all know the old saying about any publicity is good publicity) with adequate time to make the truth known as well as baiting the public with the anticipation of your statements/rebuttals. This far before the election, name recognition is the key. The fact you got some mud on you is unfortunate, but the mud slingers usually end up looking a lot worse than the guys who actually get muddy. You've got plenty of time to wash, and your image is already mending from what little damage was done.

Too bad you are a nice guy. this bum needs held upside down and shook untill the money stops dropping. As far as Channel 6 goes, they were willing to report if they found something smelly yet it is a non story that this yo-yo slandered you???

Well, I got into politics so that I could talk public policy and reduce the size of government, not get into personal mudslinging. I have had an awful lot of people tell me that I ought to sue this guy into oblivion, though.

Yeah- that is frustrating about RTV6's take on this. If there is a scandal involving a Libertarian, that's news. Campaign manager Rob Place contacted Norman Cox stating that he was glad to know that RTV6 was interested in the Kole Campaign. Mr. Cox told Rob that he isn't interested in us until later in the election season- unless there is a scandal.

That, by the way, is another of the seven signs: Media finds you relevant enough to embarass, but whether for a personal or other reason, not worthy of singing praises on. This is something I experienced at the hands of Matt Tully from the Indy Star.

The final sign is that the media jumps on your bandwagon once you're successful, and pretends they were with you all along. That will be a fun day.